And so the bittersweet farewell begins. It's a long process and with my sister Cathy coming in this week, I started with the little things, like my favorite 1 euro snack at Picadero, patatas bombas, deep fried potato stuffed with meet served with garlic alioli and brava sauce.
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| Patatas bombas |
I also said goodbye to La Oveja Negra, a bar a lot of my fellow students frequented where they serve sangria and beer in "towers" with its own tap. This farewell was not so sad.
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| La Oveja Negra |
With my sister's arrival came the opportunity for me to experience a lot of Barcelona for the first and last time. This was indeed bittersweet.
Casa Batlló:
My favorite of the Gaudí works for its amount of thoughtful detail, everything uniquely beautiful and yet alarmingly subtle. It oddly reminded me of hearing sounds underwater.
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| A ceiling and accompanying light fixture |
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| The roof mimicking the spine of a dragon Dragon motifs are common throughout Barcelona whose patron saint is St. George, the dragon-slayer |
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| Parabolic arches in the attic and my little big sister |
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| Darker tiles at the top of the light well because the sunlight is strongest at the top and then the color looks uniform with the lighter tiles towards the darker bottom of the light well |
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| Lighter tiles at a lower floor |
Vinçon:
We also revisited familiar territory. My favorite conceptual design store ever, Vinçon, had opened a special exhibition out back, featuring the artwork of a certain Yoshi Sislay. If I had to describe the art, it would be the projection of a child's dreams in doodle form. The exhibition is a product of "live art" in which Yoshi continues adding to the exhibition by drawing on the walls throughout the time it is open so it is constantly changing. It's something kind of magical and what I imagine a part of my life after death looking like.
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| Castles (among other things) in the sky |
La Pedrera:
This Gaudí work is a massive apartment complex-turned museum. After so much walking on the first day my sister was here, we were falling asleep while trying to tour the place so I don't have much to say. But it was still cool.
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| Light well as seen from the roof |
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| Roof fun times |
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| Mateo and my sister pointing at... A big mystery |
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| One of the characteristic chimney-sculptures |
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| Friends forever |
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| Sagrada Familia to the left The "Banana of Barcelona" to the right |
La Sagrada Familia:
By far the coolest most awe-inspiring church I have ever seen. But this story doesn't just begin with the church. As my sister and I got on the train to get there, we were pushed by two girls who were standing beside us on the platform. The thinner fake blonde was trying to look at a map and pushed me out of the way while the other one was squeezing from the other side. The other one was a large girl holding a jacket or sweater in front of her and I was annoyed at all the pushing going on. They suddenly got off as if they were on the wrong train and when I looked down, the purse was open and I checked inside only to confirm that I had in fact been robbed. So I put 2+2 together as fast as I could.
I had imagined scenarios like this in my head not just once but probably dozens of times, like what kind of Spanish curses I'd yell or what kind of karate chop I'd use. While I trained myself to never let anyone get away with robbing me or anything else offensive of that nature, I had always doubted I would really go through with it. I guess the training paid off because the next thing I knew I had jumped off the train and pushed the larger of the two girls against the wall asking her, ¿Dónde está? (Where is it?) I repeatedly asked her while cornering her against the wall while she and the other girl shook their heads and told me they didn't know what I was talking about. I forced open the girl's handbag and shuffled around to find nothing when a very attractive man walked over and flashed a badge--a plain clothes officer. He told the other girl to open up her bag and there it was, my wallet with my apartment keys fastened to the zipper. I watched as the two girls were asked for their identification and their expressions revealed the rapid sinking of their hearts. I watched them being led away while I basked in my triumph. All I could think was, Did that really just happen? My sister, who had quickly jumped off the train in pursuit of me (she thought I was getting into a fight) confirmed that yes, that indeed did happen. I joked later that day that I went straight to Sagrada Familia to thank God for my little victory that I was convinced he was somehow involved in.
When we first got there, the line was around the block--all four sides. We asked a security guard what we should do and he advised us to get special tickets from Servi Caixa, a bank that has special promos for just a euro or two more that lets you cut the line for entrance at specific times. We got our tickets, waited an hour, and entered into the most mega-amazing architectural masterpiece I have ever had the pleasure to know.
I had imagined scenarios like this in my head not just once but probably dozens of times, like what kind of Spanish curses I'd yell or what kind of karate chop I'd use. While I trained myself to never let anyone get away with robbing me or anything else offensive of that nature, I had always doubted I would really go through with it. I guess the training paid off because the next thing I knew I had jumped off the train and pushed the larger of the two girls against the wall asking her, ¿Dónde está? (Where is it?) I repeatedly asked her while cornering her against the wall while she and the other girl shook their heads and told me they didn't know what I was talking about. I forced open the girl's handbag and shuffled around to find nothing when a very attractive man walked over and flashed a badge--a plain clothes officer. He told the other girl to open up her bag and there it was, my wallet with my apartment keys fastened to the zipper. I watched as the two girls were asked for their identification and their expressions revealed the rapid sinking of their hearts. I watched them being led away while I basked in my triumph. All I could think was, Did that really just happen? My sister, who had quickly jumped off the train in pursuit of me (she thought I was getting into a fight) confirmed that yes, that indeed did happen. I joked later that day that I went straight to Sagrada Familia to thank God for my little victory that I was convinced he was somehow involved in.
When we first got there, the line was around the block--all four sides. We asked a security guard what we should do and he advised us to get special tickets from Servi Caixa, a bank that has special promos for just a euro or two more that lets you cut the line for entrance at specific times. We got our tickets, waited an hour, and entered into the most mega-amazing architectural masterpiece I have ever had the pleasure to know.
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| The Passion Façade |
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| The interior meant to look like a forest Mesmerized man bottom right-hand corner |
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| The "canopy" of the forest |
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| Spiral stairwell, the tree trunk columns, etc. |
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| The Nativity Façade |
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| Under construction for what some believe will be another half-century |
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| View from a small window while walking down the spiral staircases from atop the church |
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| Stairwell looking down |
Palau de la Música:
This building is just straight up wack and looks like it came out of a Disney movie set in 19th century Russia. At this point, we had been walking for six hours for the second day in a row and we were exhausted. I was afraid Cathy was going to hit me.
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| El Palau |
By far the most bittersweet and difficult of my farewells was saying goodbye to my family, my odd group of mismatched friends. After making a feast of all the leftover food we had in our apartments (sticky rice with egg and soy sauce, pasta, macaroni and meatballs, shrimp scampi, etc. etc.) we were off to the Magic Fountain one last time. After having spent so many nights at the Magic Fountain, it wasn't only my favorite place in Barcelona because it's so amazing but because I started associating it with these people, these weirdos I love in spite of them being absolutely out of their minds most of the time.
The night was perfect, as if the Magic Fountain knew it was a bittersweet occasion and planned the evening's repertoire accordingly. Just as we were growing impatient waiting for the show to start, I heard the familiar bells of the beginning of "Barcelona" by Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé. My time in Barcelona had made it full circle.
They're calling us together
Guiding us forever
Wish my dream would never go away
That segment also featured Whitney Houston and another Queen song, "I Want to Break Free" which was one of my firsts. The next show (as the Magic Fountain has multiple shows in one night) featured Disney music, the first being "The Circle of Life" from "The Lion King", perhaps the most epic of epic Disney musical numbers. The rest of the night went by quickly, the whole lot of us singing along to familiar songs, hugging, some of us crying. And then it was time to go.
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| Farewell cava (bubbly) with friends |
The longer you draw out a goodbye the harder it is. We had a full day starting early in the morning anyway so I turned in before things could get too emotional. In any case, there's not too much to be sad about. I intend to see these people again.
I said goodbye to María Elena, my 60-somewhat year old boss while my sister met up with one of her new Yale classmates, a native of Barcelona. We met up at Plaça Catalunya and took the longest bus ride I have ever taken in Barcelona up to Parc Güell. I should be ashamed to admit my last day in Barcelona was my first time in the famous park.
Parc Güell:
The park was designed by Gaudí, his house in the park now a museum. It combines all of the usual Gaudi-esque elements, mosaics and nature motifs among many.
I said goodbye to María Elena, my 60-somewhat year old boss while my sister met up with one of her new Yale classmates, a native of Barcelona. We met up at Plaça Catalunya and took the longest bus ride I have ever taken in Barcelona up to Parc Güell. I should be ashamed to admit my last day in Barcelona was my first time in the famous park.
Parc Güell:
The park was designed by Gaudí, his house in the park now a museum. It combines all of the usual Gaudi-esque elements, mosaics and nature motifs among many.
Bo de B:
After a long trip down to the other side of town, the beach side opposite the mountainous area where you can find Parc Güell, I took Cathy to Bo de B, my favorite place to eat in Barcelona. Although I usually got sandwiches, we waited on line for a table so we could get salad platters, giant plates covered with all the goodies you can get in a sandwich. I was afraid my hungry sister was going to get cranky and bite my head off but I promised it would be worth it. I deliver on my promises.
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| Each plate 6.50 euro, mine with grilled steak and my sister's with grilled chicken Included: corn, raw onion, rice, lentils, olives, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cabbage, feta cheese, fresh bell pepper balsamic vinegar + avocado sauce + tzatziki sauce + parsley sauce + hot sauce |
The meat marinates at least a couple hours so its super delicious and juicy while the rest of the ingredients are also seasoned similarly with fresh parsley, vinegar, and olive oil. We finished everything and were satiated for the rest of the day.
We walked from Bo de B back to the hotel which was a 3.3 walk uphill. We thought it would be good to digest our lunch/dinner although the last stretch nearly killed us. This is of course the third day of walking 6 hours in the sun and it was taking its toll. The upside, we saw the last preserved stretch of the original medieval wall that had once protected Barcelona.
We walked from Bo de B back to the hotel which was a 3.3 walk uphill. We thought it would be good to digest our lunch/dinner although the last stretch nearly killed us. This is of course the third day of walking 6 hours in the sun and it was taking its toll. The upside, we saw the last preserved stretch of the original medieval wall that had once protected Barcelona.
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| The 14th century wall of Barcelona |
And then it was goodbye for us. I'd wake up the next morning in a daze at about 6 AM and move zombie-like to the airport and off to Paris. When I play back my summer here in my head like a film, it ends with this song. I know it makes no sense but it just fits.
Y ya está--el fin.
Y ya está--el fin.
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